Konica Minolta Medical Imaging USA framed its ImagePilot CR system, introduced at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) meeting in Seattle, as a new concept in digital radiography. ImagePilot CR, designed as an integrated digital imaging acquisition, review, and storage solution specifically for physician clinics, simplifies image acquisition to a single button push.

A system presented at the SIIM meeting is able to develop work lists based on a patient’s insurance and a radiologist’s credentialing status, important considerations as more and more studies are interpreted away from central offices and facilities try to maximize reimbursement.

Medical archiving and storage specialist InSite One is showing at SIIM a new bundle of recovery services, part of a promotion the company plans to run through December 2008. Dubbed InDex Recovery with Recovery Plus, the bundle automatically backs up PACS databases within the company’s Intelligent Management Gateway, while sending a copy of the data to a primary InSite One warehouse.

IT giant McKesson has acquired Vivalog, a provider of web-based products that enable radiologists and other imaging specialists to organize and share image and reference case information used in daily practice. One such product, MyPACS.net, a web-based community for radiology decision support and information exchange, houses 18,000 reference cases depicting thousands of diseases.

Although it offers tremendous opportunities for advances in imaging interpretation and communication with referring clinicians, advanced visualization still stumbles when it comes to workflow, according to a presentation Friday.

Changes in images introduced by compression algorithms at levels as low as 8:1 can be observed by readers when they are compared with uncompressed images, according to a research report presented at the Society of Imaging Informatics in Medicine conference Thursday.

Practice meets theory at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine 2008 Annual Meeting, May 15-18, in Seattle. The SIIM meeting has always provided a collegial environment for practical education and demonstration combined with the latest research and science in imaging informatics.

There will come a day when radiologists enter a reading room and go to a station where the chair, workstation, lighting, and ambient temperature settings will all automatically adjust to optimized preset preferences. Until that day, however, radiologists will have to suffer in substandard working conditions unless they take takes steps to personally adjust their environment or someone in the radiology department becomes a champion for the cause of better reading room design.

As radiology becomes more and more digital, teaching files can be created faster and more easily if appropriately integrated with other applications, according to Dr. Luciano Prevedello at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

While the cost of PACS has declined in the last decade, the system is still a major investment that requires careful planning, implementation, and follow-up, according to speakers on Sunday, the last day of the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting in Providence.

Researchers involved in a large multicenter trial have combined readily available technology with a customized data collection and reporting process that has enabled them to minimize costs while reading the studies in a timely manner. The technology and expertise used can be adapted to just about any clinical research study with digital imaging requirements, according to a scientific paper presented at the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine meeting in Providence.

One hundred radiology and information technologists took a pilot exam Saturday that will allow them to become certified imaging informatics professionals. The test is a new step in the drive to bring professional recognition to the management of radiology informatics systems.

A suite of teleradiology products and services launched at the SIIM meeting will improve efficiency by intelligently routing studies, according to its developer, CoActiv Medical. The suite, called Exam-Net, focuses on image distribution, reading, and archiving. Its Acquire & Forward Server receives studies directly from multiple modalities or an existing PACS, automatically sending them for temporary storage to a hosted Exam-Net server at one of CoActiv's data centers, or to an onsite imaging location. The hosted server can be programmed for "intelligent" imaging forwarding, automatically routing studies to appropriate radiologists at any location.

Siemens Medical Solutions put its syngo Suite in the spotlight at SIIM 2007 as the means to an advanced level of interoperability and flexibility for imaging centers. The product, a hybrid IT that integrates RIS, PACS, postprocessing, and patient data handling, brings image management and practice management together in an easy-to-use package.

Mercury Computer introduced enhanced 3D tools and application workflow for CT angiography at the SIIM meeting. The enhancements, part of Visage CS Thin Client/Server 2.2, address 3D and 4D image interpretation, postprocessing, and distribution tasks possible within the PACS workflow anywhere in the hospital enterprise. Bone removal for CT runoff studies automatically subtracts leg bone, pelvic bone, and spine to illuminate vascular structures. A new integrated suite of analytical tools defines and traces vessels and performs curved planar reformatting or a straightened lumen view. A Cardiac CT Analysis Package features 4D Cardiac CT data support, including coronary vessel analysis and left ventricular function analysis.

Because PACS administrators come from various backgrounds and a site may have multiple systems from various vendors, fixing problems in a timely fashion can be challenging. To address this concern, PACS administrators at the University of Maryland Medical System have designed a wiki to build a collaborative decision support and knowledge repository for supporting a PACS.

Last year, the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine attracted 24 essays from residents and other trainees vying to win travel reimbursement to the meeting. This year, the society received no essays, according to Dr. Barton F. Branstetter IV, chair of the SIIM education committee, who moderated a morning resident roundtable session.

Reprising the old joke about how many people it takes to change a lightbulb, radiologists were asked Friday how many workstations it takes to solve a given clinical question. Their answer: way too many.

Tools for managing an outsourced radiology service premiered at the Neurostar booth during the SIIM meeting. New additions to the company's Virtual Radiology Network include enhanced schedule-based routing of studies and custom management reporting tools supporting both real-time dashboard style and retrospective information. Digital recording, web-based transcription, custom structured report templates, and voice recognition have also been added, along with automated billing and cost-analysis reporting.

Native 3D and postprocessing capabilities are taking center stage at the Carestream Health booth during the Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine conference June 7 to 10. Volumetric capability and other advanced functions are embedded into the latest version of the company’s Carestream PACS, which will begin shipping the end of this month. Also built into the enhanced system are image fusion, orthopedic surgical templating, and cardiac functions.